Superhacker facing extradition to US was out to prove UFO's exist
'Superhacker' facing extradition to US was out to prove UFOs exist 1 hour, 13 minutes ago
LONDON (AFP) - He's alleged to be the biggest military computer hacker of all time, but the Briton facing extradition to the United States on charges of breaking into high-security US military computers was looking for no more than proof that UFOs really do exist, his lawyer says.
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Gary McKinnon, arrested in London on Tuesday, had been indicted in 2002 on eight counts of computer-related crime in 14 states by a US federal grand jury.
He faces extradition on allegations he broke into 53 US military and NASA computers between February 2001 and February 2002.
"Mr McKinnon is charged with the biggest military computer hack of all time," said Paul McNulty, a US district attorney in the state of Virginia.
Downloading sensitive information, making the US military district of Washington "inoperable," deleting about 1,300 user accounts and stealing 950 passwords are among the allegations he faces.
One count alleges that McKinnon -- known as "Solo" online -- obtained secrets which could have been "directly or indirectly useful to an enemy" of the United States.
According to US officials, the damage McKinnon allegedly caused amounted to almost one million US dollars (814,000 euros).
"He doesn't deny that he did infiltrate their computer system," said McKinnon's lawyer, Karen Todner, after his first court appearance in central London on Wednesday.
McKinnon, 39, an unemployed computer systems administrator from north London, wanted to prove the existence of UFOs, Todner said, convinced the US was hiding evidence of their existence from the rest of the world.
"He has an interest in UFOs and that was certainly part of his motivation. He believes there are UFOs and that the US government knew about this and had been concealing it," she said.
"He also wanted to expose weaknesses in the American security systems because he is a pacifist."
The lawyer said McKinnon -- who if convicted could face 70 years behind bars -- has little confidence in the US justice system and believes he should be tried in Britain.
In court on Wednesday, McKinnon spoke only to refuse consent to the extradition request.
"These (hacking attacks) occurred just before and after September 11," said Ed Gibson of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI), who was at the court hearing.
"It was poor timing. The military knew someone was getting access before the September 11 attacks (in 2001), but they didn't know who."
"Solo" is waiting for his next court hearing on July 27 which could decide if he is to be extradited.
In the meantime, he is free on bail of 5,000 pounds (7,500 euros, 9,200 dollars), with instructions to report to his local police station, not to apply for any travel documents -- and not log onto the Internet.
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too much xfiles for this hacker
